HAPPY 10TH, ‘STAR WARS’

Ten years ago, moviegoers first lined up to see the film with the Force.

The $9.5-million “Star Wars” opened May 25, 1977, and set records in all 43 theaters where it was booked. Still writer/director George Lucas modestly told The Times: “I never bank on anything. I think this movie will break even.”

“Star Wars” went on to sell more than $400 million worth of tickets. It also changed the scope of the film industry (for half a dozen years, “Star Wars” imitations hurtled across the screen), spawned a film-making empire (Lucasfilm) and became embedded in our pop culture--to the surprise of distributor 20th Century Fox, which blurbed “Star Wars” on Page 7 of its list of the year’s coming films. (Featured was the year’s anticipated hit, “The Other Side of Midnight.”)

Such an anniversary could hardly pass without a celebration in force: It begins today and continues through the Memorial Day weekend Monday at a convention at the Stouffer Concourse Hotel near LAX.

Hosted by Starlog magazine (which bills itself as “the most popular science-fiction magazine in the solar system”), the “Star Wars” convention will feature an appearance by George Lucas--his first at such a gathering.

Joining Lucas at a special presentation Sunday at 7 p.m. will be “Star Wars” film colleagues Anthony Daniels (C3PO), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian) and Alan Ladd Jr. (president of 20th Century Fox when “Star Wars” was launched), along with Mel Brooks, whose coming film “Spaceballs” spoofs the “Star Wars” movies.

On hand to present Lucas with a birthday cake will be none other than Darth Vader (no one is saying who will be under that ominous mask).

There will be exhibit rooms with “Star Wars” artwork and props, and panel discussions. The “Star Wars” films will screen--one each day. The 35-millimeter prints are being provided by Fox, which as recently as April also considered reissuing “Star Wars” theatrically for a single day (the May 25 anniversary) in four to six cities across the country.

Ironically, plans were scuttled because the studio feared that the second most popular movie in motion picture history (following “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial”) could not find a sizable theatrical audience because of its very popularity--it has flooded the videocassette, cable and commercial TV markets (the film aired on commercial TV in February). A Fox spokesman said he also doubted that “Star Wars” could compete with the newest releases, especially “Beverly Hills Cop II.”

“Anytime you put a film before the public it costs a certain amount of money,” said a Fox spokesman who preferred anonymity. “That has to be a consideration. This was a hard business decision.”

Nonetheless, he said, “in the very near future,” “Star Wars,” “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” will be booked to run in a single day in a San Francisco Landmark theater.

“If this goes well, other theaters in the chain may also begin to show ‘Star Wars’ films” back to back.

When it was released, “Star Wars” was expected to have stiff competition. Other titles in the summer of ’77 included “The Deep,” “MacArthur,” “Exorcist II: The Heretic” and “A Bridge Too Far” (this last boasted a startling $22-million budget).

But “Star Wars,” which had been turned down by two studios (Universal and United Artists), left the competition in the galactic dust.

Reviewers were as ecstatic as the public. One critic tabbed the film “A Galactic ‘Gone With the Wind.’ ” The headline in Time magazine simply read : “THE YEAR’S BEST MOVIE.”

The trade paper Daily Variety may have best summed up the film’s overwhelming appeal when it proclaimed: “It sweeps away the cynicism that has in recent years obscured the concepts of valor, dedication and honor.”

The “Star Wars” trilogy is the middle portion of a nine-film saga. Reports persist that Lucas, who is producing “Willow” in London and “Tucker” in Northern California, will initiate the next trilogy. At present, said Howard Roffman, vice president of licensing for Lucasfilm, there is no validity to those reports.

“But I don’t think you should do anything to quell the rumors,” he said. “ ‘Star Wars’ changed our culture. We’re glad we’ve come to see the first decade of ‘Star Wars.’ We look forward to more celebrations to come.”

Tickets for the “Star Wars” convention, which is open to the public, are $18 per day. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.